Book of Journeys
by chibby
Summary: ::DISCONTINUED:: Four years before the books, another child was chosen to power the Earth gem of Sarman's Diadem model. This is her story... Trista has finally entered the Diadem! What trials lie ahead for this young magic user now? ::DISCONTINUED::
1. Default Chapter

Book of Journeys

Chibby does not own Diadem. John Peel and the people at Scholastic Books do.

Chibby: hi. Just so you know, this is the author. And this is my muse, Sammy.

Sammy: Hullo.

Chibby: She's a little tired 'cuz she was just teleported to an alternate dimension.

Sammy: One with lots of things that tried to kill me. It's tiring, having to kill some monster every five minutes.

Chibby: No, Sammy, that's the new video game I just got yesterday…

Sammy: Yeah, but I still somehow was teleported there.

Chibby: ; right, well then… here's the story!

Prologue

    Sarman paced around the room, studying his model of the Diadem. Two-thirds of the gems glowed with an inner fire, making the darker gems around the edge stand out all the more. Only the Rim and Outer Circuit was left. He had been steadily working his way from the center for eight years now. Only a few more years, and then he would be free.

    Sarman looked at the dark gems. He had worked outwards for the last eight years, but now he wondered if it would go faster if he started to work from the Rim. He had been very patient since getting trapped on Jewel, and he would be for as long as he needed to be. The though of his freedom had, as always, made him impatient for the day he would finally be free.

    He walked towards a gem, farthest from the central diamond. An emerald, representing the planet kwon as Earth. A ruby representing Calomir and a sapphire for Ordin were nearby, but Earth was the farthest. The person he would use to power the emerald would take the longest of all the worlds to reach Jewel.

    Sarman smiled his sinister, dark smile. He could bring a person from Earth here to see how fast working from the Rim inwards was as opposed to working outwards from the center.

    He left the gem room and went to his mirror, willing it to show him the most powerful magic-users on Earth.

    "Shadows," he said, "to me."

    The Shadows peeled themselves from the dark corners of the room. They gathered around behind their master, awaiting his instructions. They had, after all, been doing this for the last eight years.

    The mirror brightened, showing the blue-green planet. Three lights blinked on, white with intensity. Sarman focused on the first one. The mirror showed him a picture of a young girl in a wheelchair. Something about her seemed familiar…

    "Ah, yes," Sarman remembered. "Destiny. So that is what became of her." He chuckled darkly. "Best leave her there to suffer."

    He focused on the next light. This time the mirror showed hi a boy, about the same age as Destiny's new body. The boy was being beaten by an older man, presumably the boy's father. Sarman watched as the man finished, leaving with a disgusted look on his face. The boy crawled into a corner and curled into a ball, watching the room with scared eyes.

    "Too young," Sarman said. "Too weak." The poor boy probably didn't know of his magical potential, or even that magic was real. "Too pathetic."

    He turned his attention to the third light. It showed a girl, older than the abused boy or Destiny. She had long blue-black hair that cascaded down her back, ending a little past her waist. Her head turned, showing her piercing, steel blue eyes. This girl was very powerful, and in more than just magic. The way she carried herself showed an absolute confidence, almost like anything that come at her would simply fall under her cold glare.

    "You were watching?" Sarman asked, undaunted by what he had seen. The Shadows writhed in eagerness, nodding. "Go then. Be sure to inform Aranak, on Treen, that he will soon have a new student. Have him send a Beastial to escort the girl." The Shadows listened carefully as Sarman explained the rest of his plan.

    Eager and willing, the Shadows quickly departed, and were soon spiraling down to the blue-green planet called Earth.

Chibby: well, wathcha think? Sucks? Too short?

Sammy: and don't forget kind of repetitive.

Chibby: yes, thank you Sammy. (pushes Sammy down interdimensionl gateway) she never sees it coming.

Sammy: (voice drifting from portal) Not agaaaiiinnn!!!

Chibby: don't worry, this happens all the time. She'll be back for the next chapter. If I get enough reviews, anyway. If I don't, poor Sammy will be stuck for all of time in (checks scrying pool) oh God, what have I done?! She's been sent to the Hamtaro universe! Please, review and save Sammy!!!!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Chibby does not own Diadem

Chibby: Hi!!! I'm back with a real chapter! Since I got some reviews, Sammy has returned!

Sammy: (is rocking back and forth in the fetal position) so many hamsters… so many…

Chibby:(sweatdrops) heh, heh… right, well then. I actually had something very different in mind when I posted the prologue, so forgive me for any confusion or unmet expectations of my new character. Also, I've been jotting down ideas for other fics, which is why it took me a while to update.

Sammy: That, and re-writing the story you had. Chibby's character was originally going to be a modern-day ninja, but Chibby changed her mind when she found out people were reading her story.

Chibby: I thought a ninja would be a little weird, so I changed her into an orphan. From Virginia. Well, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Trista was lying on the grass, eyes closed, arms folded casually behind her head. The sun was shining through some hole in the leaves of the tree over her, making the spots of light dance over hr with the wind. It was a warm day, perfect for taking a nap.

A boy dropped down from the branches and landed a few feet from her. "Kiru!" he called.

Trista cracked open one eye. "Hiro, you know perfectly well that that's not my real name."

Hiro's intense gray eyes sparkled with his smile. "Yes, but neither is 'Trista.' Until you use your true name, Yutaka, you'll always be Kiru."

Hiro was about two years older than she was. He was originally from Japan, until his family had moved to America a few years ago. What was odd about his appearance was that, though he was only thirteen, his hair was pure, stark white. A lot of people at the orphanage where both Trista and Hiro lived thought it was because he had seen both his parents get shot by some guy who was trying to lose the cops by dodging through houses. Although Hiro claimed his hair had always been white.

Trista was also of Japanese descent, but she had been too young to remember her parents when she had come to the orphanage. When Hiro had found out that she didn't use her real name, he had tagged her with the nickname "Kiru," which meant "lost" in some ancient language.

"I don't _like_ my real name.That's why I made up a new one." Trista said to Hiro. She closed her eyes, ready to resume her nap. "And anyway, it's too nice out to argue with you right now."

Hiro pulled her into a sitting position. "Actually, I came to tell you that fencing class is about to start."

The staff of the orphanage were pretty jaded about any of the kids getting real homes, so they whatever they could to keep the children happy. This included all sorts of activities, like painting and reading, and other skills that would be useful in real life. Mostly things like cooking, doing laundry, washing dishes, that sort of thing. They also did a lot of fun classes, too. For example, one of the staff had been a fencer, so gave fencing lessons. Another had taking martial arts, so taught a few basic things for that. It helped the kids calm down, so they wouldn't cause too much trouble.

Trista and Hiro were pretty much the best at fencing and martial arts. Mostly because Trista had been doing if since she was seven, and Hiro seemed to have some inborn talent for it.

"Why didn't you say that first?" Trista scowled.

Hiro shrugged innocently. "You didn't give me a chance. C'mon, let's go."

Trista sighed as they walked towards the area where their class was held. "You know, despite the fact that you endlessly annoy me, I consider you my best friend."

"I know," Hiro said. He stopped walking and turned to face her. "That's why I'm giving you this."

He took one of Trista's hands in one of his, and put something in it. Trista looked down, curious. It was a necklace. It had a strong silver chain and an easy-to-work clasp. Hanging from the chain was a delicately wrought silver pendant. It was shaped like a snake-like dragon, coiled in a sideways figure eight, the symbol for infinity, while biting it's own tail.

"Hiro," Trista said. She knew what this was. It was pretty much the only thing Hiro had brought with him to the orphanage. The necklace had belonged to his mother. "Hiro, I can't accept this."

"Sure you can." Hiro took the necklace and clasped it on for her. "You're my best friend, only one I've got in this place." His gray eyes lost some of their spark. "She told me that if I gave it away, to give it to someone I trust. Someone who would take good care of it."

"But…"

Hiro looked down at his watch. "Crap, we're late now. Let's get to class."

Chibby: well, that's the first real chapter. Short, I know, but whatever. It seemed longer in my notebook.Things are going to get much less happy very soon. If you would prefer to read about a ninja, let me know. I might post the original idea under adifferent title.

Reviewer Acknowledgements

Meitora: um, actually, I'm not really sure what a muse _is_. I guess it's supposed to be that little voice in your head that nags at you to write and update, only with a name. As for what it's for, I guess to make the author seem a little more human, and to shamelessly beg for reviews.

DragonCrusher3000: aww, that's sweet. Thank you!

Chibby: anyway, I'm not sure when my next update will be, but hopefully soon. In the mean time, leave me a review!Or Sammy will pay.


	3. Chapter 2

Chibby does NOT own Diadem

Chibby: Jeez, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I'm horrible, I know. I went about ten months without updating. Sammy got so disgusted with me that she up and left. Once she did, though, I realized I had other voices in my head.

Chen: HIIII!

Mark: Yo.

Chibby: These are my new muses, Mark and Chen. In case you can't tell, Mark is a guy and Chen is a girl. They're the first two chibis I drew, and they became permanent characters. I'm even drawing a little comic about them. If I find a way, I might put it on the net and put a link to it on my profile.

Chen: Story, Story!

Mark: Yeah, these people really don't care about you. They just want you to write this.

Chibby: Yeesh. All right already. Here's the second chapter of Book of Journeys!

Trista yawned and stretched her arms out, worn from the long day. She entered her room and closed the door behind her. Rubbing her neck to ease the cramp that was starting there, she walked to the window and slid it open. She let the cool air breeze in, savoring the light scent of approaching rain. She closed the window all but a crack and sat on her bed, glancing at the clock on the opposite wall. Quarter till eleven. It was getting late.

Trista lay down but didn't fall asleep. She just wasn't sleepy. It was one of those weird states, when you know you're tired, and should sleep, but feel oddly wide-awake. She was past needing rest. She was restless.

She sighed and got up. She walked over to her dresser and picked up three little balls, each about the size of a marble. One was green, the other yellow, and the third was red. Looking at the clock again, she saw it was now past midnight. But she didn't feel the least bit tired anymore, like she had when she first entered the room.

Trista sat on her bed and listened carefully to hear if anyone was awake. She knew that there was probably no one, but she didn't want to risk anything. After all, this was her secret.

Trista stared hard at the three little balls in her hand, focusing. As she continued to focus, the little balls floated out of her hand and hovered in front of her face. Staring harder, she _willed_ the balls to move around in the air, their pattern making a design like a Celtic knot.

Only Hiro knew about this, of course. And that was only because he had sneaked up on her when she was practicing. She smiled at the memory of that night.

(Flashback)

Trista stared hard at the little marbles, directing their movements with her fingers. Her eyes occasionally flicked to the sketch of a Celtic knot beside her, but never for more than a few seconds. If she didn't keep her focus on the balls, they would fall.

"What're you doing?"

Trista jerked in surprise. The little balls fell as her concentration shattered. Turning, she saw Hiro close the door to her room behind him.

"Hiro!" she yelped. "I wasn't doing anything!"

"Yes, you were. I saw those little marbles floating." Hiro's eyes were locked on hers with an intensity that showed only when he wanted answers to his questions.

Trista let a breath out through her teeth. She picked up the marbles and held them in one hand.

Hiro cocked his head to one side, some of the sharpness leaving his eyes. "C'mon, you know you can't lie to me."

"That's because, more often than not, you already know what's going on," Trista said.

"So? Prove me right."

Trista sighed. "I can't make you give this up, can I?" Hiro grinned. "Didn't think so." She paused to collect her thoughts. "I don't know exactly what it is. I think it's telekinesis."

Hiro shrugged. "Could be. Or maybe it's magic."

Trista gave him a look. "Hiro, there's no such thing as magic."

"Sure there is. You just haven't seen any yet." He grinned. "Or maybe you've not only seen it, but actually done it."

Trista rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Hiro."

Hiro's brow furrowed. "So, when you'd figure out you could do this?"

She bit her lip, thinking. "A few days before you came here. I was wandering in the park near here, and found these little balls. They were stuck in a tree, and I couldn't reach them. So I kind of… _willed_ them to come down, and they did."

"You sure it wasn't just the wind?"

"Was the wind making them move just now?"

Hiro clapped his hands and laughed. "Gotcha!" he cried. "You admitted it!"

Trista scowled. "Well, you wouldn't have known anyway if you hadn't snuck up on me. What're you, a ninja or something?"

"Maybe." Hiro smiled mischievously. "Maybe not."

Trista rolled her eyes again. "You are really weird, Hiro."

Hiro shrugged. "You think I care? C'mon, show me that trick again."

She sighed. "Fine."

(End Flashback)

Since that night, making the little balls float had helped her sleep. As she had gotten better at controlling them, she learned to make them move faster and in more complex patterns. Since she had the pattern memorized, she could have each of the balls at a different part of the Celtic knot at once.

The rain she had smelled earlier came and went, and after about thirty minutes, she finally began to feel tired. She _willed _the three balls back onto her dresser, than lay down to sleep.

Trista woke a few hours later, at three-thirty A.M.

"Damn!" she nearly yelled. Why couldn't she sleep tonight? Frustrated, she got out of bed and went to her dresser. Maybe a walk would help her sleep.

Trista rummaged through her dresser and took out what she wanted. She put on the pair of loose, faded blue jeans and fastened a simple leather belt around her waist. Next was a light, long-sleeved, white shirt, followed by a heavier black T-shirt. She pulled her waist length hair back into a ponytail, making it look about three inches shorter.

She pocketed the three colored balls and grabbed her sneakers, not putting them on yet. Trista crept quietly out of her room, peeking out her door to make sure no one was in the hall. She avoided the steps that creaked as she went down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen, where there was a seldom-used back door. Slipping her shoes on beforehand, she opened the door and went out into the night.

The night air was cool, and it did a lot to help her relax. Trista wondered briefly where she should go, then turned and headed towards the park.

She took a break under a tree, the same one she had taken a nap under earlier that day.

"What're you doing out here?"

Trista jumped and looked up. There she saw Hiro sitting calmly in one of the lower branches, leaning against the tree trunk, one leg dangling off the side.

"Geez, Hiro, did you have to scare me like that?" Trista asked, a trifle unkindly.

He shrugged. "Maybe not." He jumped off the branch and landed in crouch, making barely a whisper of sound. "But you weren't paying enough attention to notice me."

Trista rolled her eyes. "You're too quiet. Nobody would've noticed you." She cocked her head to one side. "You _sure_ you're not a ninja?"

Hiro grinned. "Maybe I am. But then, maybe not."

"Why do you never give a definite answer?" Trista asked, still slightly annoyed.

"Because I don't want to," he said simply, as though the answer should be blatantly obvious. "It adds to the mystery."

Trista sighed, her aggravation spent. "You're really weird, Hiro."

The older boy shrugged noncommittally. "I know." He looked her straight in the eye. "So what _are_ you doing wandering around at four in the morning?"

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"The same." Hiro walked over to the tree he had been sitting in before and place a hand on its trunk.

"So, Kiru, do you still remember your real name?" he asked. "Seeing as you use your made-up one so often, I mean."

"Of course I remember it," Trista said. I'd have to be pretty dumb to forget it. It's Yutaka Mosoboro."

Hiro hefted himself up onto a lower branch and looked down to face her. "You never explained exactly why you don't like your real name."

Trista made a face. "Too many O's. And it's got too much of a pattern. Every syllable is two letters, and every other letter is a vowel." Trista realized something. "Come to think of it, I don't think you've ever told me your last name. How come?"

Hiro shrugged. "Didn't really want to. And besides that, no one asked."

"So what is it?" Trista asked.

"Ryu Kaze." Noticing Trista's confusion, he explained. "It means 'Dragon Wind.' It's an old name, from way back in feudal Japan. Back then, it was a clan name." Hiro climbed onto a higher branch in the tree. He was now about ten feet above the ground.

"So what kind of clan was Ryu Kaze?" Trista asked, pulling herself onto the branch Hiro had been on before.

"Ninja."

"No wonder you're so quiet, then. It's genetic."

"Feh." Hiro looked down at the ground, as if deciding whether or not to jump. "So, Kiru. I know we've talked about this before, but do you believe in magic?"

Trista thought, her legs dangling off the side of the branch. "I don't know," she said finally. "I'd _like_ to believe it's real, but there's too much disproving it."

"So just because other people say it doesn't exist, you're going to believe them? Hiro asked.

"Well, have you ever seen magic?" Trista countered. "I mean real magic, not some guy on the street or at a kid's birthday party doing card tricks."

"Yeah," Hiro said quietly. "I have."

This threw Trista off. "Oh? What was it?"

"You wouldn't believe me," Hiro said. "Not right now, anyway. Maybe later, but not now."

"Try me."

"Look, Kiru, you really want to know? Fine." Hiro jumped off the branch, flipped in the air, and landed in a crouch, just as he had before. Standing, he turned and looked up at her. His grey eyes had anger shining in them now. It scared Trista, because she had never seen Hiro angry before.

"My first experience with magic was when I had a vision of my parents getting shot by a guy in a mask. Two days later, it happened." Hiro crossed his arms. "When it did, the blood flowed out of my mother's body and stained her murder's eyes. That's how the police were able to find him."

His tone still angry, he continued. "After that, I got put through the whole foster kid routine, but no one wanted a kid who woke up screaming in the middle of the night about how something bad was going to happen. Eventually, I ended up here, met you, knew you had magic, and decided to stay put for a while."

Trista looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Hiro. I didn't know…."

Hiro turned, letting out an angry breath. "It's not your fault." He calmed down quickly. "I wouldn't have stayed here long, anyway. But something about this place… I don't get the dreams as often. Maybe it's because of you."

"How would I do something like that?" Trista asked, mustering enough courage to look at Hiro's back.

Hiro's shoulders rouse in a shrug. "No clue. It might be that your magic has a purifying effect on an area. Or it could just be that I'm running out of other people's memories."

"Wait. Other people's memories? And why do you keep saying I have magic?"

Hiro flinched, like he had said something he shouldn't have. "Ignore that memories bit. As for why I keep saying you have magic, that should be obvious." He turned and smiled, straight at her.

"It's because you do."

Chibby: Again, sorry it took so long. Life has just been really weird lately, for a lot of reasons.

Chen: Chibby's actually still working on the nest chapter.

Mark: Yeah, she's taking her own sweet time. You poor readers. At least she's not as mean to you as she is to me.

Chibby: grins evilly

Mark: sweatdrop

Chen: starts laughing her head off

Chibby: Well, I'm going to try to update sooner next time. No promises, though, especially since my friend introduced me to gaia online.

Acknowledgements

**DragonCrusher3000**: Glad you liked it! As for why you were at the bottom, well… there were only two reviews, so I flipped a coin to see who would go first…. For gaming info, what do you want to know about? I'll tell you if I've ever heard of the game or know any thing about it.

**Meniel**: It's okay that you missed the first one, don't worry. I'm just glad you like it! I'm guessing Trista is firmly an orphan now, but ninja was just too much of Hiro's character. So now he's descended from them. YAY ninja descendants!

**Bloodyink6661**: ooo, a new reviewer! I'm glad you think I'm not ruining the series, since I absolutely LOVE Diadem! Hope you keep reading and enjoy this fic.

Chibby: Okay, next chapter things go bad. It's very sad. I kill about twenty people all at once. Stay tuned to find out who!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Chibby does not own Diadem. If she did, it would never have been written.

* * *

Chibby: Behold! The long-awaited chapter three of the Book of Journeys!

Mark: Writer's block can be a pain, huh?

Chibby: Yes, yes it can. I think the main problem is that what I write doesn't sound like something I would write. You know?

Chen: Yeah, we know. You've only thought it about a thousand times. And as the voices in your head, me and Mark can't help but hear it.

Chibby: Ah, sorry, sorry. Whatever, here's chapter three. Here we go. So very sorry for the long, long, long delay.

* * *

Trista's eyes widened. "What?"

Hiro grinned. "You heard me. You have magic, just like I do. Though yours is different than mine, and, I'll admit, plenty stronger."

"Wait, _what_?"

"Well, because of how my magic is, it's a lot different than yours. Mine's more… specialized, I guess." Hiro laughed a little. "Magic is different and unique, just like people are. The strength of it differs from person to person, as do specializations, weaknesses, and other little tricks."

Trista shook her head. "Wait a second, Hiro. Start over so I can get this?"

Hiro smiled and nodded. "Alright. Let's start this way: On Earth, there are a few very rare and special people that can use magic. You and I are among them. Each individual magic-user has their own little… trick, that's unique to them in that they can do it naturally." He paused, as if trying to decide what to say next. "My own ability is that I have a little Sight. I can see into the future, a little, anyway. It's not much, but I don't need any complex spells like another magic-user would."

Trista nodded mutely, blinking as she took all the information in. "So, if I have magic, what's my trick?"

Hiro shrugged. "As near as I can tell? Reading minds." Trista arched an eyebrow. "Go ahead, try it out," he offered. "Try to read my mind."

"How?" Trista asked. "I don't think there are instructions for this sort of thing."

"Figure it out. My foresight doesn't tell me everything, and you're not an idiot."

Trista scowled and closed her eyes for a moment. _They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul,_ she thought. Maybe they would work as windows into the mind as well. Opening her eyes, she took a deep breath and focused on Hiro's eyes.

_C'mon, you can figure this out._

Trista started at the voice in her head. The oddest thing was that it sounded like Hiro….

Then she realized. It was Hiro's thought. She had read his mind. But she still felt a nagging doubt. She stared harder, her pale blue eyes intently probing Hiro's shining grey ones.

Trista felt multiple thoughts bubbling up, pushing against her consciousness. She could feel, somehow, that some were more recent, while others were older thoughts, temporarily stored until they were forgotten or became memories. She tried to see, or hear, these thoughts, but she felt something pulling her away. She blinked, and realized her eyes were still locked on Hiro's.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear away the sudden muddled feeling.

"Well?" Hiro asked. "Did it work?"

"You couldn't tell?" Trista asked, cocking her head. Hiro shook his head. Trista frowned. "I think it worked. I mean, I could hear at least one of your thoughts."

"At least?" Hiro's face was curious and inquisitive.

"Well, there was more than one thought going through your head. Some of them were older, I think. Others might have been actual memories. Maybe." Trista shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Hiro shifted his weight onto one leg and rested his chin in a palm, his other hand supporting the elbow. "Well, maybe. If you say or do something that triggers a person's memory when you read their mind, then I guess it's possible for you to read some of their memories along with the thoughts."

"How would I do that?" Trista furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering what she had done to trigger Hiro's older thoughts.

"Well, when you were looking in my eyes with that really intent look," Hiro said, looking slightly embarrassed. "It kinda reminded me of the look my mother used to give me whenever I tried to lie about something." He smiled sheepishly. "It sparked a few memories about the things I would try to lie about." The smile became a grin. "Looking back on it, most of them were pretty stupid."

"So the look I gave you was what triggered those older thoughts, those memories? That's what made them come up?"

Hiro shrugged. "_Probably_. It could be that, or it could just be coincidence. But, by the same token, you might also be able to discover more subconscious thoughts, or fears, maybe even dreams, if you could cause something to make the person think of them when you read their mind. Or it could all be luck. You might get memories with one person, dreams with another, or just the thoughts that happen to be going through their mind at the moment. You may actually never get something like that again, or you may get it often." He shrugged again. "The mind is too complex to make more than a guess about any of it."

Trista rubbed her forehead with the side of her hand. "This could get really complicated," she muttered.

"Or it could get really simple," Hiro put in brightly. "You'll figure it out and get the hang of it eventually."

"Did your foresight tell you that?" Trista asked, a bit sarcastically. Hiro's grin was answer enough. "Nevermind."

Hiro laughed. "Well, I'm feeling kinda tired now. Want to head back?"

Trista realized that she was tired, too. "Yeah," she said. "I'm tired all of a sudden."

"Using magic will do that to you." Hiro raked a hand back through his stark-white hair, making it messier and spikier. "Let's just head back. You'll be fine after a little rest."

Trista nodded, and together they started heading back to the orphanage. She shivered as a breeze passed, chilled like ice. It was just the start of fall, so she guessed there would be a few cold winds, especially at night. She didn't think anything of it.

* * *

Above, in the sky, the Shadows watched and writhed in glee. There was the girl, all alone. The stage had been set, and the girl was about to take her part. Their master would be pleased.

* * *

The orphanage Trista and Hiro called home was surrounded on three sides by trees. The forth side had a road, and more trees beyond. The road led to the nearby town in one direction, and to the park in the other. Trista and Hiro rounded the edge of the woods, following the road, and stopped dead at the edge of the orphanage's large lawn.

The two-story building wasn't there any more.

Hiro swore loudly and started running. Trista followed. They stopped where the orphanage _should_ have been, but now there was only ash.

Hiro swore again. Trista just looked blankly out at the few charred beams that were left, and the field of ashes. Her mind wouldn't comprehend what she saw. The staff, the other kids, even the woman that had spent the night so she could get to know the children before adopting one…. They couldn't all be gone.

Trista felt another chilled breeze. She shivered uncontrollably, wrapping her arms around herself to try and get warm. She barely felt Hiro grab her and start pulling her away. Her mind was still trying to wrap around what she saw, still disbelieving that it was true.

"Kiru!" Hiro said loudly, finally snapping her out of it.

"H-Hiro…"

"Come on!" He pulled her by the hand, leading her to the woods. "We've got to get out of here! They might still be around!"

"B-but why…?"

Hiro glanced back at her over his shoulder. "You or me. Maybe both of us."

Trista shivered as the air chilled again. "Us? But…."

Hiro suddenly held up a hand to stop her. He touched a finger to his lips, signaling silence. Eyes narrowed, he looked around the trees. He motioned for her to stay still, and walked a few steps away.

"Come out, now!" he called. Air began to swirl dangerously around his hand. "Last chance!"

A small red fox slinked out of a bush. Its ears were drooped, its tail dragging on the ground. Its honeyed-amber eyes looked up at Hiro pitifully. It had to be the most dejected animal Trista had ever seen.

The fox took another step forward, and _shifted_ somehow. Suddenly there was a young girl in the fox's place, though she was very similar to a fox in appearance. She still had fox ears and a tail, and soft-looking fur covered every inch of her, the same pattern as it had been as a fox. Her eyes were that same honeyed-amber, and still had that woeful piteousness.

"What do you want, Beastial?" Hiro asked coldly.

The girl stared at Hiro, fearful. Her eyes darted to Trista briefly, then went back. She opened her mouth, but was clearly too afraid to say anything.

"Her?" The air around Hiro's hand swirled even more dangerously. "Who sent you?"

The fox girl backed away a step, eyes widening with panic.

"Hiro!" Trista said sharply. "You're going to scare her to death!"

Hiro shot her a look. "You do realize that she's probably the one that set the orphanage on fire, right? That she was the one that killed everyone?"

The fox girl shook her head empathetically. "Not me," she whispered quickly. "The ones in the house did it. I was trying to stop them, but-" She cut herself off and watched Hiro fearfully.

"'The ones in the house?'" Hiro repeated. "You mean the people that lived there just set themselves on fire for no reason?"

The Beastial, as Hiro had called her, shook her head again. "Shadows…" she whispered. She looked around, as if searching for someone listening in. "Shadows made them."

Hiro swore, this time in a different language. "Well, we better get the hell out of here, then."

"What shadows?" Trista asked.

Hiro looked back, then shook his head. "No time. We've got to get out of here, now. They've started a forest fire."

"What?" But Trista could already smell the smoke. "Let's get out of here!"

The fox girl made a small sound, as if afraid to draw their attention. "I can get you out of here," she said softly.

"And bring us where, exactly?" Hiro asked, turning in a circle to look around. Trista could see distant flames now, and feel some of the heat. The fire had ringed around them, and the smoke was starting to get thick, making it difficult to breath.

"To Treen."

Hiro stared at her a moment, speechless. He looked to Trista, then back at the fox girl. "Treen," he repeated.

"Hell, Hiro, anywhere's better than here!" Trista said. "Whatever your name is, please, get us out of here!"

The girl nodded. "My name is Khanru." She turned away from Hiro and Trista and held out a hand. Trista could see the light from the flames flicker off a ring on one finger, and the small stone set into the ring.

Trista felt an odd discharge to the air, and a jagged black tear in space suddenly formed in front of Khanru. The fox looked back at them and motioned quickly for them to go through.

Trista paused for just a moment, then jumped into the tear.

* * *

Chibby: There! I finally finished it!

Mark: Congratulations. Would you like a prize?

Chibby: Stuff it, you. Let me bask in my accomplishment for a moment.

Chen: (Sweetly) I'll stun you if you don't stop!

Chibby: Fine. Whatever. Part of the reason this took so long was because, even though I was writing this in a notebook, I stopped following that outline somewhere in Chapter Two, and just made most of it up. I was in as much suspense writing it as you were reading it. Kinda. I knew basically what would happen, but not entirely.

Mark: The point is, it's finished. Finally. Maybe you'll even get the next one up in less than a year.

Chen: And give everyone that reads this a heart attack!

Chibby: Shaddup. (Sulks off)

Mark: Oh, well. Guess it's up to us, now.

Chen: Yay! Now I can make Trista use her magical powers to fight evil, with the help of cute and adorable little animal companions!

Chibby: Don't even think about it! I'll stop drawing you, I swear! I'll let you go live with Courtney and all the people in _her_ head!

Chen: Eep.

Mark: Anyway, Chibby promises to try to get the next chapter up much sooner than this one was. And to try and update her other one.

Chibby: Though I feel I should get the rest of the script first. Just to pick up on little things that I can make more or less important according to my whimsy.

Chen: Well, see ya next time!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: You think I own Diadem? Ha! I don't. There would be fewer inconsistencies if I did.

* * *

Chibby: Hey, look! An update!

Mark: Anyone have a heart attack? Anyone?

Chen: Wait, I think Meneil did!

Chibby: Hush. No she didn't. At least, I don't think she did….

Mark: So do you actually know what's going to happen here?

Chibby: Kinda.

Chen: "Kinda?"

Chibby: Mostly.

Mark: "Mostly?"

Chibby: More or less.

Mark and Chen together: "More or less?"

Chibby: Just about. Wait, you didn't think I actually had any _control_ over how this story goes, did you? I really don't. Anyway, here we go. Picking up where I left off in Chapter Three, here's Chapter Four!

* * *

Trista leapt into the black tear in space, not sure what would happen but choosing to believe it had to be better than getting burned to death.

She landed on soft, moonlit grass. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the moonlight, rubbing them to ease the sting from the smoke. Behind her, she could hear Hiro and then Khanru land on the grass.

Her eyes feeling better, Trista glanced around before turning to Hiro and Khanru. She idly wondered where Treen was. It looked the same as anywhere else on Earth.

Hiro rounded on Khanru. "Okay, so now we're on Treen. Mind explaining what you're after now?"

Khanru backed up, holding her hands in front of her like a shield. "Please, I was just sent to help you, I swear." Her honeyed-amber eyes darted back and forth between them, finally resting on Trista. "Aranak was the one that told me to go to Earth and help the magic-user there."

Hiro scowled. "Aranak. He the head on Treen?"

Khanru nodded. "He is the most powerful magic-user on this world." She bit her lip and twisted her fingers together nervously.

"So how did he know about the Shadows?"

Khanru shook her head. "I don't know. He told me only to go to Earth. He didn't tell me any more."

Hiro's scowl deepened. "Figures." He sighed and raked a hand back through his hair. He started muttering to himself and walked off a few steps.

Trista made a face and stood a little closer to Khanru. "It's useless to talk to him when he gets like this." She rolled her eyes and smiled, trying to reassure the fox girl, who still seemed scared to death of Hiro. "He's really not that bad. He won't hurt you."

Khanru started, but managed to smile weakly back at Trista, fox ears drooping. "I will be fine." She looked away. "What about you?"

Trista had a flash of the burned-out orphanage, of the other kids. What sense of normalcy she had gathered abruptly vanished. "I…."

Khanru shook her head, her tail twitching. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's…."

Hiro snapped his fingers and turned on his heel, coming back towards them. "It's no good. I can't get anything about any 'Aranak'. I'll have to sleep on it."

Trista and Khanru stared at him. "What good will that do?" Trista asked.

Hiro shrugged. "My Sight works better if I don't have to think on anything else. Though, that's no guarantee I'll get anything relevant." He looked off over the horizon then. "Well, I guess it is _relevant_, just not…." He shook his head. "Anyway, I can think better when I'm not so tired. So let's get some rest and set out in the morning."

He glanced to Khanru. "I'm guessing Aranak's got his own castle?" The fox girl nodded. Hiro sighed again. "Figures," he repeated. His eyes clouded over for a moment. "Anyway, let's just get some sleep." He looked over at Trista. "We can talk in the morning, while we're walking."

"You won't have to walk," Khanru put in. She shrank back when Hiro looked at her. "There will be horses in the morning. You will be able to ride them."

Hiro stared for a moment, then nodded absently. "Right, okay, sure, sure." He started walking off towards a stand of trees, mumbling to himself.

Khanru shrugged and headed in the same direction. Trista followed, her mind partially distracted from remembering what had happened at the orphanage. When they got to the stand, they saw that Hiro had built a small pile of wood for a fire.

He held a hand over the pile and murmured something. A small flame leapt up and started licking at the wood. He looked up and grinned. "'Least we won't be cold now." He moved back and leaned against the trunk of a tree, some of the spikes in his hair catching on the rough bark. His eyes closed as his head tilted back, then opened to look at Khanru.

"Are there any settlements around here?" he asked.

Trista thought it was an odd question, but Khanru nodded. "There is a human village that we will have to avoid. They usually do not travel at night, however." She bared her surprisingly sharp teeth, the firelight making her honey-amber eyes suddenly menacing. "They fear what may be hiding in the dark. Once we reach Aranak's castle, you will be safe and I will be able to join the rest of my people."

Hiro nodded. "Great." He looked up at the night sky. "Well, guess we don't need a watch, then."

"Why are we avoiding any villages?" Trista asked.

Khanru grimaced. "Because they would kill us for being what we are."

Trista started to ask another question, but Hiro stopped her with a wave of his hand. He smiled lightly towards Trista when she looked over. "Get some sleep. I've got a feeling tomorrow's going to be busy."

Trista made a face but nodded, sitting down on the ground. She leaned against another tree. "Can I ask one more question first?"

Hiro shrugged. "I guess." Khanru nodded.

"Khanru, what exactly are you?" Trista had been wondering about that, despite having seen the girl change and Hiro's tagged-on title of "Beastial."

Khanru's eyes searched for something to look at. "I am a Beastial," she said. Her eyes finally settled on Trista's. "I am not sure how to explain it."

Hiro held a hand up, like a little kid in school. "Here's something. Beastials are magic, but because of that, they can't use magic. They tend to congregate in large groups, but are rarely seen. They'll do just about anything to…." He noticed Khanru staring at him. "Well, I guess that's enough. The main thing with Beastials is that they can change between an animal form and a form that's more human."

Trista frowned. "But how do you do that?"

Khanru shrugged. "I just do it."

Trista opened her mouth to ask something else, but Hiro cut her off. "That'd be three, Kiru. You only asked for one."

Trista blinked, then laughed. She knew what Hiro was doing, of course. He was trying to keep her mind off what had happened. She let him, not wanting to find out what would happen if she fully comprehended it.

"So this is another world." She made sure that the tone of her voice kept it from sounding like a question.

"Yep," Hiro said. "This is Treen."

Trista wondered if he'd let her get away with another question. "How did you know about Treen, anyway? Or about Beastials, or any of this?"

Hiro smiled slightly, eyes not quite meeting hers. "In the morning, Kiru. Get some sleep."

Trista sighed, knowing she wouldn't get anything else out of him. "Alright." She lay down on the ground, using her arms as a pillow. Khanru _shifted_, changing from a fox with a human shape back into a full fox. The little red fox curled up on the opposite side of the fire from Hiro. He still scared her, apparently.

She thought she heard Hiro whisper something, but she suddenly felt incredibly tired. Her eyes slid closed, and soon Trista was in a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

She was woken by a hand shaking her shoulder.

"Wha…?" she murmured sleepily, passing partially through the realm of dreams before opening her eyes slightly.

"Kiru. Come with me a sec." Hiro pulled her to her feet and started leading her out of the stand of trees.

"Hiro? What are you…?" Trista was following him, that much she knew. But she was still half-asleep, and couldn't figure out what was happening beyond that.

"Just follow me for a minute. Trust me, it's important. And stay quiet, I don't wanna wake Khanru."

They walked for a few minutes in silence, Trista becoming more awake after Hiro murmured something when she had tripped. They stopped when the light from the fire was out of sight.

"Okay," Hiro said, keeping his voice quiet. "This is really important, alright? Listen. Listen really, really carefully."

Trista nodded. "I'm listening."

"You're going to die."

Trista stared at him, wide-eyed. "What?"

Hiro raked a hand back through his spiky white hair, not looking at her. "You're going to die, very, very soon, if I don't do something very important that will cause both of us a lot of pain. We'll live through it, but it'll hurt worse than anything you can imagine. And even then, it would only give you a _chance_ of still living."

Trista was quiet for what seemed a long time. "How am I supposed to die?"

Hiro still didn't look at her. "My visions are kinda blurry sometimes, or more symbolic than realistic. The vision I had was that you were bleeding from all over, your life draining away, and a man covered in shadows was the one responsible. I'm not sure how this is significant, but you were bleeding over an emerald, and when you died, a light flared to life in the emerald."

Trista looked over her shoulder for no real reason. "So how can I live?"

Hiro made a small sound in his throat, half like he was trying to clear it. "I have to give you a certain mark, a mark that only I can give you, and that will protect you, a little, because it's proof that you know me."

"What kind of mark?" Trista had turned back, but she and Hiro still weren't looking at each other.

"A Constant's bloodmark."

"What?" Trista's face turned to Hiro's, just in time to see him draw a knife across his upper arm. Where he had gotten the knife, she didn't even have time to wonder. Blood began to flow from the cut, much more than seemed normal.

Hiro started chanting words Trista didn't catch. The blood from his arm lifted, forming a sphere as it floated in the air. Trista watched with wide eyes as Hiro continued chanting. When the sphere was about half the size of a fist, it split, and the blood rushed into Trista's eyes.

Unimaginable burning pain radiated from her eyes as the blood entered them. It was so intense she couldn't even scream. Even the tips of her toes felt like they had been plunged into molten lead, and her eyes were much worse than that.

She wasn't sure how long the pain lasted, but she could somehow still faintly hear Hiro chanting. Eventually, it lessened enough for her to realize that she was lying on the ground. The pain was starting to retreat, lessen, so that soon only her eyes still hurt. She slowly opened her eyes, just barely more than a squint. Hiro was next to her, kneeling on the ground. He was facing away from her, breathing heavily, the knife nowhere to be seen.

She tried to stand, or at least sit up. Her movement caught Hiro's attention, and he turned around to help her.

"Hiro…" she said softly, her head pounding.

"Yeah?" Bad as she felt, Hiro sounded like he was much worse-off.

"What the hell was that?" Her voice wasn't loud, or even angry, but Hiro winced as though she was yelling right in his ear.

"That…" Hiro said. "…Was much, much harder than I thought it'd be. That's what it was." He rubbed his hand back and forth through his hair rapidly, mussing it up. "Damn wizards. No wonder they all died making Constants…."

"What are you talking about?"

Hiro closed his eyes. "Well, you remember earlier, when I was telling you about magic? Remember how I said mine was more specialized?"

"I remember."

"Well, I'm a really, really rare type of magic-user. In fact, I think I'm the only one left." Hiro still didn't open his eyes. "I'm what's called a Constant."

"And what is a Constant?" Trista asked, making sure to keep her voice soft so it wouldn't aggravate the headache Hiro obviously had.

He sighed. "A Constant is a magic-user whose power won't decrease. No matter how far they get from the Center, no matter how far they are from Jewel, their power level won't drop once it increases."

He raked his hand back through his hair again. "You see, the Diadem, the universe of magic, is multi-tiered, and each tier, each Circuit, is a different distance from the Center. The Center is the source of magic, and so, the farther you get from the Center, the weaker the magic. Earth is the farthest, so it's the weakest.

"Normally, when a magic-user goes to a Circuit that is further away from the Center, their power levels decrease according to the distance from the Center. But that doesn't happen with Constants."

Trista frowned. "So, Constants were made? They weren't like someone's special trick or something?"

Hiro shook his head. "It might have started that way, one person being 'constant,' but some group of wizards latched onto the idea and tried to figure out how to make their own powers constant." He let out a breath, the wind of it lifting some of the hair that fell around his eyes. "They wanted to make sure it'd work, first, of course, so they grabbed some random magic-users from other worlds, brought them all together, and tried casting the spells over them that would make their power constant."

"And it worked?" Trista asked. "Those wizards managed to make their power constant?"

Hiro shook his head, but his eyes were even now still closed. "I'm sure they _would_ have. After all, it worked fine on the people they cast the spells over. Except for the fact that the strain of it killed them all." He rolled his head back. "Leaving those clueless magic-users stranded on that world, with little or no idea of what was going on, even though they were now just about the most powerful beings in the universe, except for maybe the rulers of Jewel."

He sighed, head still tilted back. "Eventually, those people all decided to stick together on that world. It was a only few years before any kind of trouble came, however. Other magic-users somehow found out about the 'Constant' trait, and wanted it for themselves. So the Constants were hunted down so that other magic-users could try to make their own power 'constant.' They were eventually forced to leave that world, and go into hiding."

"Is that why you're the only one left?" Trista asked. "You were in that group, but haven't been found yet?"

Hiro shook his head. "No, this all happened about a millennium ago. I'm different. I wasn't 'made' a Constant, I was born one."

"How does that work?"

Hiro gave up on sitting and fell to the ground. "Well, the Constants that were left figured that they needed to do something to protect themselves. Most of them had figured out a goodly amount about magic by this time." He turned his head towards Trista, but still didn't open his eyes. Trista's own still hurt enough that she wanted to close them, but she felt that she should watch Hiro. Something told her it was important.

"So," Hiro went on, "one of the strongest in the group, Silas Corrine, figured out how to make it so that a Constant's power was tied to his blood, rather than his soul. He even figured out how to prevent a Constant from being seen with magic." A smile crossed his face briefly. "That's my personal favorite, there. Nothing that uses magic to see, like a scrying pool, or certain magical creatures, can even tell I exist."

"So how would someone have found you at the orphanage?" Trista asked, remembering how Hiro had asked Khanru if she had come from Hiro or Trista. But if he couldn't be found by magic, how could someone have tried to hunt him down?

"I never said it was foolproof. If someone was scrying _you_, for example, and happened to see you while you were talking to me, you would seem to be talking to yourself. That means you're either crazy, have an imaginary friend, or there's a Constant around. If someone else walked by, and also started talking to me, they're either humoring your insanity or there's actually something there." He breathed in loudly. "Someone that knows about Constants never rules out the possibility of one being where there's even the slightest chance of it."

He sighed before continuing. "Anyway, usually, when a magic-user steals the powers of another, they kill the person and absorb the certain traces of magic in the soul that contains the magic as it leaves the body. So by tying the 'Constant' enchantment and thus the magic it affected to the blood, that wouldn't work, and by the time whoever killed them figured it out, the traces would have evaporated. The only problem is that Silas didn't count on what would happen once the spells were over the blood instead of the soul. Of course, most of the people that changed the magic didn't get to see it anyway. Silly little thing about the strain of that casting that he left out of his calculations." Trista had the feeling that Hiro was rolling his eyes behind his eyelids.

"So about half of the Constants were left, and a Constant's blood was one of the most magical substances in the universe. It had become a lot like a parasite, actually. If a Constant was killed, the blood would stain the eyes of the killer, but lose the enchantment if it wasn't another magic-user. So if someone killed a Constant, they didn't even need to bother with draining them; they'd get the power automatically from the blood. And when Constants had kids, they realized that they had passed on the Constant trait. Funny how traits occasionally pass through blood. Except the kids didn't have the distinctive mark of red eyes that the 'made' Constants did, so it took awhile to figure out. Although the communal memory bit helped with that. Seems some memories are passed on through blood, too. Or maybe just the magic." He let out a breath. "That's how I knew about Treen, and Beastials, and all the rest. Other Constants in the past have seen them, so I remember them, too. Of course, I also remember how they all died…. _That's_ a pleasant thing to remember."

He twirled a hand in the air. "Anyway, the Constants wandered around the Diadem for a bit after that. When they were still hunted down, and beginning to realize what happened when one of them was kill, they decided to go somewhere safer, where the magic was too weak for another magic-user to be a threat. So they ended up on Earth, and joined a certain clan of ninja back in feudal Japan."

"The Ryu Kaze?"

"Yep." Hiro finally opened his eyes. "After a few generations, the Constant trait had spread through the entire clan, so the symbol of the Ryu Kaze also became the symbol of the Constants on Earth." He pointed to the necklace that Trista wore around her neck. "That little dragon, there. 'Just as the wind goes on forever, so will the magic of the Constants.' As long as anyone from that clan has children, anyway." He smiled wryly, then frowned. "I'm pretty sure that the rest of them have died out. Magic-users tend to be paranoid, and generally for good reason."

He sat up carefully, obviously still with a headache. Resting on the ground seemed to have helped him a bit, though.

"Now, you're going to have red eyes for a while," he told her. "Maybe a few days, maybe months, maybe even a year or so. It depends, though I'm not sure on what. But I didn't make you a full Constant; I just gave you some of my spelled blood, and tied it to your own magic that still lies in your soul. You'll barely feel the effects, but your magic will be slightly stronger than it should be when you go to lesser worlds. Maybe… ten percent more, tops. And, of course, you'll have at least a little red in your eyes for the rest of your life." He stood shakily, offering a hand to Trista. She took the hand, but didn't use it to pull herself up; Hiro looked like he would fall over any second.

"So, I'll have a little more of my power than I should?" Trista asked.

The older boy nodded. "And I'll have a little less than I'm used to. Not a big deal, though. I'm actually not that strong. I would only be able to get to the Middle Circuit."

"How many Circuits are there?"

Hiro thought a moment. "Five, if you count the Center. And different worlds can be farther or closer to the Center, but still in the same Circuit. The Middle Circuit, of course, is the third level, only halfway through."

He staggered suddenly, and Trista caught him, having a hard time keeping him up.

"Sorry," he said, standing back up. "Let's get back to the camp, okay? I really need some rest."

Trista nodded. "Of course."

Trista helped Hiro make the way back to the camp. The fire had dwindled, so Trista went to build it back up after helping Hiro lean next to a tree.

"Let me teach you a quick spell before we go back to sleep. It'll make having a fire much easier." Hiro smiled slightly. "Just picture a flame in your mind, and say 'Shriker Kula Prior'."

"Shriker Kula Prior," Trista repeated. Looking at the small remaining flame, she pictured a fire and said the words again. A flame leapt up, licking eagerly around the wood. Trista grinned. "Okay, I'll remember it."

Hiro nodded. "Good." His eyes closed and his head went back against the tree trunk. "See you in the morning, Kiru."

"Yeah," Trista agreed. "In the morning."

* * *

When they woke in the morning, as Khanru had promised, there were two horses, already fitted with saddles and reins. The fox girl had been startled by Trista's suddenly blood-red eyes, but a quick dismissal convinced her that she must have misconstrued Trista's appearance at first.

Hiro mounted up easily, seeming to be as good at riding a horse as he was at everything else. Trista, on the other hand, balked.

Hiro laughed and slid out of his saddle. If the shine in his grey eyes hadn't been so dim, Trista would think he had fully recovered from what he had done to her last night. "Kiru, it's easy. Just put one foot in the stirrup, and swing your other leg over to the other one."

"That's not what's bothering me." She glanced over to him. "I have no clue how to ride a horse. I barely even know what the equipment is."

He grinned. "Actually, that's a good start." He walked over and helped her mount. "Here, look. Take the reins…" he held them up for her, "and squeeze your heels, just a little. You can use your knees to steer, just push on the side of the direction you want to go. Pull back slightly on the reins to stop." He arched his eyebrows. "Got it?"

Trista nodded, and Hiro went back to the other horse. It had a rust-colored coat, different from the buttery brown of the horse Trista was on. Hiro flicked the reins, and his horse started moving at a walk. Trista imitated the move, squeezing her heels, and her horse was soon following. Khanru kept pace beside them, having said she didn't need a horse to keep up with one.

Their ride was largely uneventful. They talked some, Hiro explaining some to Trista about magic. Khanru finally got over her fear of Hiro, and talked openly with them, though most of what she said was vague and made little sense to Trista. It wasn't until a few hours later, close to noon, that there was trouble.

Hiro stopped his horse suddenly, and Trista pulled back on the reins of her own.

"Hey, Kiru. Do you hear anything?"

Trista strained her ears, and then shook her head. "Nothing."

Hiro frowned, looking around the woods. "Funny. I could have sworn I heard shouting…."

He pulled his horse around, leading it off the course they had been traveling.

"That will lead you away from Aranak's tower," Khanru protested.

Hiro stopped again and shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I get that you have a job to do, but I just have a bad feeling about that direction." He looked around again, eying the trees uneasily. "Actually, I've got a bad feeling about this whole place now. It's almost like we're about to be attacked…."

"Seems you've got sharp senses, boy," a rough voice said.

The three of them whipped around to the voice's origin. A man matching the voice stepped out from behind a tree and spat on the ground. "Damn magicians. And keeping company with filthy beast folk." Disgust was clear in his voice. More men came out from behind trees, surrounding them. They all had some sort of weapon, though simple ones, mostly crude swords and knives. "You shouldn't trust those Beastials, you know. They're a treacherous bunch, the lot of them."

Khanru bared her teeth, hissing softly. Trista was wholly confused, but Hiro didn't miss a beat. His horse took a few steps so it was ahead of them, and he held a hand up to stay the men. "I'll admit I am a magic-user, sir, but I've taken an oath to use my powers for the betterment of others."

The man stared at Hiro for a moment, then laughed. "Who do you think would believe that?"

Hiro shook his head. "No, sir, it's true. I've been training under a priest for the last few years, and I was just on the way to meet with my master to get his help in exorcising the demon that's possessing this girl, here." He held up a hand to indicate Trista. "And the Beastial, she was escorting me past the tower ahead as a favor, since I saved her life." Hiro glanced between the two of them, winking to Khanru.

_Just play along_, Trista heard when his eyes met hers.

Khanru was nodding, so Trista did as well.

The man before them still looked unconvinced. "A priest wouldn't be so far from his apprentice. Beast folk never do anyone a favor, even if you did save her. And that girl doesn't look possessed to me."

"Ah, sir, but this demon is very devious. It only takes control of her at night, for that is when its power is strongest. If you doubt me, look closely at her eyes." Hiro waved a hand for the man to come closer. "They are red with the demon's wrath."

The man came a few steps closer, squinting to see Trista's blood-red eyes. He abruptly lurched back, his own eyes widening. He dropped the crude sword he held to point at her eyes. He stammered unintelligibly, finally forcing out the word, "Demon."

Many of the other men ran, only a few standing their ground. Even those, however, took several steps back.

"Why do you not simply kill her and the demon as well?" one asked, fear evident in his voice and his eyes.

Hiro shook his head. "For one thing, I have sworn to never kill an innocent when there is a possibility to save them, and this girl is about as innocent as one can be. Also…" Hiro's face darkened slightly in a way that made him very intimidating. "...Don't you know what happens when you spill a demon's blood?"

The men didn't answer, so Hiro continued. "Their blood is a poison, contaminating the land so that no crops will ever grow on it again. Its vengeful spirit will set a plague across the land, killing the young and old. Women become barren and men will produce no heirs, even with women from other lands." His face lowered slightly, making him even more intimidating. "But that is nothing compared to what happens to those who kill the demon. No one can say for sure what happens to them, because all close enough to see die with them, but the echoing screams from it are said to carry across half the land clearly. Those screams are so tortured and full of pain and anguish that they give those that hear them terrifying nightmares for the rest of their lives."

Hiro lifted a hand towards Trista, a faint light gathering in his palm. Trista's eyes widened. "But, if you are willing to risk it..." He looked over to her, and though his face was still frightening, she could read in his mind that he wouldn't hurt her. She still kept her face scared, however, for the sake of the act. It wasn't hard, despite what she could read.

The few men remaining had been slowly backing up as they listened, and now they broke away and ran, crying back pleas for mercy. Hiro, Trista, and Khanru watched them go.

Hiro let his hand drop, and a few minutes later he turned his horse back the way they had been going before. "Well, that was fun," he said, rolling his eyes. "Gotta love superstitious people. I've always wanted to do something like that."

Trista gave him a funny look. "You probably just scarred those men for life, you know. They might go crazy from this."

Hiro shrugged. "Those men would have killed you and me without a second thought. They would have felt no regret over it, because we are magic-users." He fixed his grey eyes on her, a small spark going across them. "'Better to kill them now, before they're too powerful to kill.' That's what those men were thinking when they ambushed us. To those men, magic-users are all selfish, evil people. They're a menace that needs to be gotten rid of. No exceptions. Not even kids. And their view isn't unique, either."

Trista was shocked. "But… why would they think that?"

Hiro shrugged. "Probably because most magic-users aren't exactly the best people." He rolled his eyes. "You know the old saying, 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'? That's especially true for magic-users. It's way too easy to take over with this kind of power." His eyes looked off, glazing over slightly. "Whole countries, even whole worlds…."

"And here I thought I was the mind-reader," Trista muttered.

"I don't have to know _what_ they think. I already know _how_ they think." Hiro was still looking off. "No one wants to be ruled by a tyrant, and magicians tend to become that. So normal people tend to assume the worst when it comes to magic-users."

"But that's stupid."

Hiro's eyes snapped back to her. He looked at her for a moment, then laughed. "'From the mouth of babes'," he said softly.

"Why do you keep quoting stuff?" Trista asked, slightly irritated now.

Hiro's grin widened. "Because it fits. Why do you think it's stupid to generalize magic-users as selfish, evil people?"

Trista frowned. "Because it is. People are individuals, so you need to judge them as individuals. If you judge a group as a whole based on a single characteristic they share, you're going to misjudge a lot of people. What's true for one person isn't true for the whole group."

Hiro smiled warmly. "And that is why I like you, Kiru." He flicked his reins and started moving again, Khanru keeping pace. Trista paused for a moment, pondering those words, then followed before she lost sight of them.

* * *

They didn't speak anymore as they rode. Eventually, they came to a clearing, in which sat what had to be Aranak's Tower. It was huge, reaching somewhere around a hundred and fifty feet into the air, and seemed to be carved of a single, smoky blue crystal.

"That is Aranak's castle," Khanru said. "I have done my part and led you here."

"Thank you, Khanru," Trista said. "So, you can go back to your people now?"

The fox girl nodded. "Yes." She looked at both of them. "I am… glad to have met you. I will miss you." She bowed her head, then shifted to fox form and ran into the woods before Trista or Hiro could say anything.

"Good-bye, Khanru!" Trista called anyway. She turned around to start walking to the Tower, but stopped and looked back.

Hiro had stopped just before entering the clearing. Trista went back, by now having gotten the hang of riding well enough that the horse would do what she wanted.

"This is where we part ways, Kiru," Hiro said softly.

"What?" Trista blinked, trying to understand what he meant. He couldn't be_leaving_, could he? No, Hiro wouldn't do that. He wouldn't leave her alone, not when she didn't know what was going on.

Hiro looked into her eyes, and she knew. It _was_ what he meant, he _was_ leaving her. She could feel how much he didn't want to, but she could also tell that he knew he needed to.

"I'm sorry, Kiru. I've got to go for a while." He looked away. "I don't want to, but…"

"But you have to," Trista finished. She looked towards the ground. "I get it. It's because of the Constant thing, right?"

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, that's mostly it. Most magic-users would kill for the power of a Constant, and that's not an exaggeration in the slightest. And I can't let that happen." He slid off the side of his horse and stood in front of her. Since she was still on her horse, she was higher than he was. It was one of the few times Trista could remember having to look down to see Hiro's eyes.

He smiled slightly. "If I died, we wouldn't be able to meet again." He reached up and took her hand, holding it gently. "And we will, okay? We'll meet each other again, I promise."

Trista smiled weakly. This was it. Her best friend was leaving. The tears she had been fighting to hold in suddenly burst out with a cry. She slid off her horse and hugged Hiro tightly, face burying against his shoulder. "You sure?" she cried. "You're not just going to disappear, right? We really will see each other again?"

Hiro put one arm around her, the other reaching up to stroke her hair. "Really, truly. Cross my heart."

"Do you know when?" she asked, crying harder.

"Not exactly," he said softly. "But it will be at a time and place where both of us are safe."

Trista lifted her head enough to look at Hiro. "So where are you going to go?"

Hiro was thoughtful a moment. "Probably back to Earth. Magic's weak there, but I'll be fine, since I'll have almost an Outer Circuit level of power. And no magic-users would go there. The magic's not strong enough to support a Gateway back to the Outer Circuit, so it'd take two magic-users to track me down. And there's only one of me, so no two magic-users would trust each other enough. Earth is where I'll be safest." Hiro smiled. "And besides, it's home, you know?"

Trista nodded. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"I'm not really sure." Hiro looked towards the Tower. "But I don't think you'll be coming back to Earth for a while. I'm not sure what it is, but I get this feeling that there's something important you're supposed to do. Something…" His eyes got misty for a moment. "Something that might even save the universe. And it'll save you, too."

Trista wiped her eyes, having finally managed to stop crying. "Well, that's pretty impressive, isn't it. Saving the universe." She sniffed and smiled weakly. "Just like a story."

Hiro smiled. "Yeah, just like a story."

"So… I'll see you later?"

Hiro nodded. "Definitely." He took her hand again, squeezing it, and then gave her a light push towards the Tower. "Now go on. And don't look back." He gave her one last smile, and Trista looked into his shining grey eyes one last time. She could feel that he had a strong desire to say something, but her mind-reading ability couldn't tell her what. So she smiled, wiping the last traces of the tears from her face. Then she turned away and started walking towards Aranak's Tower, her hand tightly clasping the small, silver dragon pendant that hung around her neck.

She never looked back.

* * *

Chibby: Holy bleep, this thing is almost fourteen pages long! That's almost as long as an actual chapter from the books! And that's not even counting these little Author's Notes sections thingies (which I guess shouldn't really count….). Then it's about sixteen!

Mark: What were you _on_?

Chen: A substance yet to be know to mankind.

Mark: Apparently! Jeez, I _know_ she didn't get all this stuff from me.

Chen: Well, she didn't get it all from me, either.

Mark: So wait, is there another one of us somewhere in here?

Chen: Maybe.

Chibby: Yeah, didn't you know about her? She's the one that's been in my head the longest, but I still don't know her name, remember?

Chen: Oh, right. That one. The Other You.

Mark: Well, at least this thing is done. Even if it took you almost another year to do.

Chen: At least it's long enough to make up for it this time!

Chibby: Well, I had a lot of stuff to put in this chapter. I felt I was taking too long with all the short little chapters (even before DragonEyedChild's review), and I wanted Trista to get to Aranak's tower by the end of this chapter. And Hiro had a _lot_ of things to explain. Oh, and that scene with the villagers. I've had that in my head since before I started writing this thing officially, when it was just an idea in the back of my mind. Do you know how long that is? Almost four years! And I'm only now getting to it.

Mark: Anyway, now Trista is by her little lonesome. Can't have the boy-who-knows-_**way**_-too-much stick around forever, after all. Then Trista couldn't develop like Chibby wants her to.

Chen: And Chibby's planning to reveal certain things in the next chapter that will shock and amaze you. Maybe. Possibly. Actually, it's just some stuff she made up when she heard the name of the city, Kiev, from the country Kievan Rus, in the area currently known as Russia. She managed to spin a whole plot point from just that. Ain't it amazing what she can do every now and again?

Mark: Anyway, it's time to wrap this up.

Chibby: Thank you to my few reviewers! I love you dearly! Even if I don't respond to your reviews for a long time, you have no idea how much I appreciate them! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be writing this anymore. No, seriously, I would have given up. Even with the long time between updates, I do still think about this story. If I hadn't gotten any reviews for it, I would have stopped.

Chen: In other words, if you want to keep reading, keep reviewing, at least if you're if you're feeling especially nice enough to do so. Chibby will try to update sooner next time, but again, she can't make any promises. She can tell you that she's already started writing the next chapter, however.

Mark: So, we'll see you next time!


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